Time conditions were breached
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Breaches of a condition restricting movements at the Taplow Mill, Buckinghamshire, depot of AA Griggs & Co have led to the company's Eastern Area licence being cut from 99 vehi cles and 235 trailers to 70 vehicles and 180 trailers.
Several conditions limiting the times of movement of authorised vehicles were imposed in May 1996 when the company was granted authority to base four vehicles and 12 trailers at Taplow Mill. Before the Transport Tribunal's March 1997 decision in the case of Cert, the company had held the view that the conditions applied exclusively to the vehicles based there. In June 1997 a resident complained about the movement of the company's vehicles outside the permitted hours. When that complaint was drawn to Griggs' attention, the company argued that the vehicles concerned were
based at other operating centres in the Eastern Traffic Area. In December 1997 the Traffic Area wrote to the company pointing out that conditions attached to a particular operating centre applied to all vehicles authorised under the licence.
In the absence of a satisfactory response the company was called to a disciplinary inquiry at which Eastern Traffic Commissioner Geoffrey Simms was also considering an application by Griggs to vary some of the conditions relating to hours of movement. That application was opposed by two neighbouring residents.
The Commissioner cut the licence and said it had clearly been accepted by the company that it had been acting in breach of the conditions by using vehicles from other operating centres in the Eastern Traffic Area to overcome the restrictions placed on the operating centre at Taplow Mill.
He was prepared to ignore the transgressions before December 1997 but what he could not ignore was the continuing breaches since early 1998.
Explanations had been proffered in respect of seine transgressions on Sundays, on a Saturday, and for two instances on weekdays between October 1998 and February 1999.
What he had not heard were the circumstances surrounding 19 breaches of the condition prohibiting movements between 23:00 and 04:00hrs during the same 20-week period.
The Commissioner allowed some relaxation in the conditions but said he was not prepared to allow any movements between 23:00 and 04:00hrs.